Will even vote for Congress to defeat BJP: Reddy

KOLLAM, April 29, 2018 23:35 IST

Updated: April 29, 2018 23:35 IST

Says Central leadership of the CPI will toe State unit’s line on KC(M) entry into LDF

Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary S. Sudhakar Reddy has said that his party would not be averse to voting for Congress candidates in constituencies where candidates of the Left or secular parties are not in the fray to take on the BJP.

At a news conference here shortly after being re-elected CPI general secretary for a third time by the 23rd CPI Party Congress here on Sunday, Mr. Reddy said the Congress was a secular party though it did not pursue secular principles aggressively all the time. “We are for a general understanding among all secular and democratic forces and that includes the Congress. Congress is a secular party though they don’t aggressively pursue secular principles all the time. There are also other parties such as the NCP, SP, RJD and JD(S). We are not for any alliance with the Congress, but understanding is different,” he said.

Agitation plans

The CPI leader said BJP rule had destroyed the very foundation of the country’s Constitution, parliamentary democracy and secularism. Over the past four years, the BJP-led government had been promoting intolerance, which had drawn a sharp reaction from the Left, the working people and the intelligentsia. The neo-liberal policies being pursued by the BJP-led government was placing wealth in the hands of 1% of the population, leaving the rest to penury. The party would launch agitations in alliance with other secular and democratic parties to get such policies reversed, he said.

Asked about the CPI’s opposition to accommodating the Kerala Congress (Mani) in the Left Democratic Front (LDF), Mr. Reddy said the Central leadership of the CPI would go by whatever decision the State party takes in the matter. The practice of the LDF was to accommodate a new party only if every constituent of the alliance was agreeable to the proposal. The same would apply to the KC(M), he said.

Party State secretary Kanam Rajendran, who was present at the news conference along with Binoy Viswam, said the matter had been dealt with several times and that the party’s stand on the subject was clear and in the public domain.